Article processing charges (APCs) that are paid ‘in the wild’ is a phrase which refers to payments made to publishers to make research outputs openly available but that are not processed centrally within an institution. For example, this could be when researchers pay from their own pocket or draw from a funding source that their institution does not know about, or when research centres or departments take on the financial responsibility.
The LOCH Pathfinder project has investigated this area and written a short case study that is currently under open review at The Winnower:
Improving estimates of the total cost of publication by recognising ‘APCs paid in the wild’
Theo Andrew (LOCH Project Officer, University of Edinburgh) highlights that the take home message from the case study is that:
…these costs could account for up to 20% extra in the total cost of publication that is not currently being accounted for. This additional cost is important to take into account when institutions are negotiating fair offsetting agreements for open access publishing.
The project would welcome any constructive criticism on the work so if you have any comments please leave an open review.